They're
chicks with schticks, The Kinsey Sicks!

If you buy only one CD this year of a capella singing drag queens, "Boyz
2 Girlz" should be the one

By Jeff Walsh, Oasis Editor

Singing
drag queens.

I understand the feelings and emotions those three words evoke, because I've
been there, too. I've seen the drag queen who tried too hard, the diva who needed
too much attention from the audience and the most God-awful things lip-synching
men in dresses can do.

I know it's not easy, but you need to forget all of those preconceived notions.
Because The Kinsey Sicks make up for every bad drag show you ever saw in your
life. And yes, I realize I'm offering a lot of promise, but they deliver.

This Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet, which takes its name from the famous Kin-sey
sexuality scale, consists of Trampolina, Rachel, Winnie and Trixie. On stage,
each has her own unique personality traits. Trampolina is kind slow and easy,
Rachel is a tad gross and sexually aggressive with the audience, Winnie is the
bacteria-conscious organizer and Trixie is the glamorous diva.

And yes, it still sounds like the makings of a potentially bad
drag show until they open their mouths. These gals can sing!
Once you get used to four singing drag queens, the music blows you
away. The songs range from uproarious parodies to touching ballads,
all of which feature winning lyrics and bright, brilliant harmonies.
They're also rather sex-positive, too. And these are no Log Cabin
Republican singing drag queens. They harmonize about fellatio and
inflatable lovers like no other drag singing group (if there were
one?!).

While a lot of gay singing acts (and songs) have a fun, kitschy
catch initially, the music doesn't really stand up to repeat
listenings. Well, this is also not the case with the Kinseys. Their
first CD, "Dragapella," holds up amazingly well, and their
recently-released "Boyz 2 Girlz" takes it one step further, by
bringing a better sense of their live act to your living room.

Their Celine Dion parody, "Titanic: Why Does Celine Go On?" shows the amazing
pipes Trampy brings to the group while still deliciously mocking the song everyone
is sick of. In concert, Trampy incorporated a lot of Dion's hammy movies and
chest-thumping into the song while lampooning her to her own melody (If you're
a star, bad taste can go far ). But don't pigeonhole the girls just yet,
they just as easily get serious on the uplifting "I Wish You Peace," classical
with "April Sat On My Master's Face," Yiddish with "Papirossen," and close with
a Sound of Music sing-a-long that repulses as it entertains. And just to prove
nothing is sacred, The Kinsey Sicks even have a song called "Dead Princess,"
all about Princess Di.

The
new CD plays over an hour and gives a unique taste into what the Kinsey Sicks
are like live (and trust me, I've seen them live often enough to know. When
Trixie sees me at their shows, she always says "You again?!"). So, go to their
Web site and buy the CD, you won't regret it. And although I regret this as
a Dragapella-loving San Franciscan, The Kinsey Sicks are about to star in their
own Off-Broadway show in New York City sometime this spring. Eight shows a week
for an entire year, so you'll definitely be hearing a lot more about them in
the near future.

I recently spoke with Ben Schatz (Rachel) and Chris Dilley
(Trampolina) about the origins of the group and how the group went
from being a fun time-consuming hobby to a potential career.

"The group actually formed by accident," Schatz said. "It was four friends
and we went to see Bette Midler on New Year's Eve, December 1993. And we thought,
'It's going to be Bette, so let's go in drag because there's going to be a lot
of drag queens there.' And when we went, we were the only drag queens there,
other than Bette."

Schatz said the four of them were dressed similar to the Andrews
Sisters and they kept getting applause. They were approached by a
promoter who asked if they would sing somewhere, and they told her
that they didn't sing.

"On the way home, we were so inspired by Bette's fabulousness that we started
singing and we realized we sounded really good together, so we stayed up until
three in the morning singing and decided to form a group," Schatz said, who
said the combination of drag and a cappella singing somehow didn't come to them
previously. Go figure.

"We were a group of friends who had periodically done drag
excursions and we all had musical training, but it had never occurred
to us," he said. "It was kind of like the chocolate and the peanut
butter, it just never occurred to us to combine them until we were in
drag singing."

The characters for the Kinseys were also not planned, according to
Schatz.

"We didn't set to have these characters, it's just what evolved. It's been
very organic, which is part of what makes us work so well," he said.

Dilley's Trampolina is not an original member of the group and he
had his own challenges upon entering, namely learning all their songs
in record time for his first performance.

"They called me to audition as an understudy," Dilley said. "I
came over, sang with them and they wanted me. It was a lot of hard
work because they were doing a greatest hits show, so there wasn't a
set setlist. So, I think I learned between 40 and 50 songs in three
weeks, but it's been a joy ever since day one."

Dilley
replaced Vaselina, who left the group. The hard part was not only in
learning the songs, but trying to fit into a group of people who were
both friends and a singing group long before he signed on.

"There's definitely a history they have that I'm not a part of,
because they have had long friendships before the Kinsey Sicks, but
it's not a negative thing at all."

If anything, Dilley was more concerned about the chemistry on-stage, as Kinsey
shows require a lot of ad-lib and audience interaction draped over a loose theme.
With that in front of him, fitting into the group wasn't his obstacle.

"That wasn't what I was nervous about, it was being able to
remember anything and getting through a show," he said. "Performing
with the Kinsey Sicks isn't like anything else I've ever done. You're
in high heels and you don't know what's going to happen next."

Dilley had not done drag before joining the group. But after their
recent sold-out run in San Francisco, he's more than earned his
heels.

"When I met them, I made a commitment to sing and do some a cappella work,"
he said. "I had no idea I was going to be in drag. When I met them, I had never
been in drag before. But in June, I had my first drag experience. In July, I
had my second drag experience. And in August, I was on-stage for the first time."

Dilley said that Schatz ends up writing most of the songs and
parodies for the group, including the Celine Dion parody.

"I ended up arranging it and I said, 'I'd like to sing this,'"
Dilley recalls. "I'm somewhat of a Celine Dion fan which is kind of
funny now that I parody her."

But Dilley didn't know that he would also give voice to the anti-Celine Dion
sentiment lurking in the hearts and minds of the audience.

"I didn't realize how much of a hit that was going to be. I had no idea, but
everyone was so tired of that song and movie, and some people are tired of her.
I'm not, I think she's great. It was a good release for people to release how
tired they were of it."

The group's biggest challenge recently has been keeping up with
their popularity. Schatz recently gave up his job to run the group on
a full-time basis, and when the Off-Broadway show kicks in, the
others will have to follow. Dilley, however, has no hesitations about
leaving San Francisco to go to the Great Off-White Way.

"I think it's just perfect. I'm ready. Take me to New York," Dilley said. "But
the fact that it all happened so quickly... usually getting Off-Broadway requires
a whole lot of steps and I happened to be at the right place at the right time.
A year ago, I wasn't even a member of this group."

Of course, Schatz admits the biggest hurdle the group faces is the
whole "singing drag queens" mental image.

"When people hear of singing drag queens, they get an impression
that's really different. We're hard to explain. People think of
Lypsinka or something that's all about visuals," Schatz said. "But
when people see us they are surprised about how good we sound and how
clever our lyrics are. We're a unique kettle of fish."

The Kinsey Sicks' Official Web Site is at http://www.kinseysicks.com/,
where you can order CDs, read more about the group and listen to some
audio clips.
Oasis editor Jeff Walsh would love to hear your feedback at jeff@oasismag.com